"Take off my number. You're disrespecting my number" - How Michael Jordan humiliated Cedric Ceballos in a pickup game

The story of when Michael Jordan shut down Cedric Ceballos in the most intense way.

The great Michael Jordan was arguably the most competitive athlete of all time. For the Chicago Bulls icon, every contest was a battle. Whether it was the NBA Finals or a pick-up game, it didn’t matter for Jordan; he wanted to come out on top, and if he could impose his will on his opponent, even better. That’s exactly what happened in a pick-up game Jordan played with former NBA wingman Cedric Ceballos.

Space Jam runs

The year was 1995, and Jordan had just come off an unsuccessful playoff run, getting beaten by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semifinals. He was shooting the movie, “Space Jam” in Los Angeles and had a massive basketball facility built on the Warner Bros lot so he could spend time on the court. It was in that facility that Jordan and Ceballos had their showdown.

Ceballos had gotten Jordan’s ire when he questioned why UCLA guard Kris Johnson was part of the game when he was told that only NBA players would get to play. And if there’s one thing you don’t do, it’s cross Michael Jordan.

“When you get on this court, I'm gonna dunk on you,” Jordan told Ceballos.

Signature Jordan

What followed was the signature Jordan. He was relentless in attacking the rim and showing off his absurd athleticism. Ceballos tried to stay with him, but it was futile, Jordan scoring over him again and again.

“That dunk was a part of a series of plays, a flurry that Mike gave to Cedric,” Johnson narrated. “Imagine Mike's in the mid-post, right? Cedric is on him with an arm-bar. Mike's got the ball near his right shoulder, he has his head turned, and he's talking to Cedric as he's leaning back.”

“He faces up, and he continues to talk, and that's when he went to a jab series and was like, ‘Take off my number. You're disrespecting my number!’ He's jabbing, palming the ball, and talking sh*t to Cedric Ceballos, telling him he's disrespecting his number because Cedric Ceballos wore No. 23,” Johnson added.